Unsung American qualifier sends star Ivanovic packing
LONDON: Ana Ivanovic became the highestprofile casualty of Wimbledon’s opening days as the seventh seed fell to 158thranked qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands in a second round clash on Wednesday.
Ivanovic, a former French Open Champion and world No.1, lost 6-3, 6-4 to become the second-highest seed to exit the women’s draw after Simona Halep was beaten on Tuesday.
While it is seven years since the Serb clinched the title at Roland Garros, she had appeared to be on her way back to her best after reaching the last four on the Paris clay a month ago.
Yet she was put under pressure from the start by the tattooed American MattekSands, who was playing in the second round at Wimbledon for only the third time.
“She was aggressive. She was coming in a lot. I thought she was hitting lots of winners off the forehand side,” said the Serb.
“She made some errors, but there was not really a rhythm out there, for example, like I had in my first match. I kind of expected that. She played well. She served well.”
Ivanovic’s career has been somewhat turbulent after she won the French as a 20-year-old in 2008.
Soon after that success, the results dried up as injuries and emotional instability on court took their toll, with her ranking dropping as low as 65 in 2010.
On the back of her Wimbledon exit, however, she said she will now take some time off to try and improve her fitness levels before returning to court in August.
“I’m looking forward to having some time off and do proper preparation because that’s what I’ve been lacking,” she said.
Meanwhile, Heather Watson insists she will never let the “cowards” who send her death threats damage her career after the British No.1 equalled her best ever performance at Wimbledon.
Watson defeated Slovakian world No.72 Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-2 in the second round on Wednesday and is the only remaining Briton in the women’s singles.
The 23-year-old from Guernsey next faces the daunting task of taking on world No.1 Serena Williams in the last 32.
But Watson’s victory was overshadowed by her recent revelation that she has been sent numerous sick taunts to her Twitter account, including several death threats.
The unassuming Watson hardly seems the most likely candidate for such hateful abuse and she suggested most of the messages may have come from gamblers.
“I think those people, they’ve got no life,” Watson said. “They’re just kind of cowards thinking they can say whatever.
“I don’t really check anymore really. But it’s become such a usual occurrence that it doesn’t really mean much to me. It’s usually always positive when I win. It’s just when I don’t win.
“It usually is [gamblers], because you either win or lose the money. They shouldn’t gamble.”